Platypus of Truth

 We've been reading The Quest for the Holy Grail and I can't help thinking this would make a great Game. Pictures below. 

Addie LaRue and her sea of stars, courtesy of Starryai. "Oh how should I not lust for Thee, Eternity, and for the wedding ring of rings, The Ring of Recurrence. Never did I meet the [man] by whom I wanted children, unless it be this [man] that I love. For I love Thee, oh Eternity. For I love Thee, oh Eternity." Beware the gods who come at night! Who looks into the Darkness may find the Darkness looking back. Beware the Sons of Slave Morality and the avoid the Sorcerer. Your life should be a work of Art. If you've read Nietzsche, you've read Addie LaRue; right down to the disconcerting whiff of antisemitism.

 Today I finished reading the Agamemnon in Greek, 23 years after first reading it in Fagles' stirring translation. "Sing the song of woe, but may the good prevail."

This post is edited from a letter on Hope Mirrlees' Lud in the Mist First, thanks for passing on "Lud in the Mist". It's the kind of book I'm constantly hunting for and have increased trouble finding lately (Phantasties, Idylls of the King, The Last Unicorn, Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, The Queen of Elfland's Daughter, anything by William Morris, and the short stories of Clark Ashton Smith having already been encountered). There are very few books that I read at a positively leisurely pace for pure pleasure anymore and this was one of them. Second, I'm a historian and connector by nature and training, so I often access a book by linking it in with everything I've already read and letting my thoughts whirl like the music of the spheres. It seems like to immediately jump in to discussing Lud like that does violence to the Art. I feel the same way about Phantastes. I don't even know if Phantastes can be discussed in that way. Hope Mirrlee...

Every year, in honor of Michael Ward's groundbreaking Planet Narnia , I award seven Summer reading books with to one of the seven heavens of Medieval cosmology. Prior awards can be found by following the "Summer Reading" tag at the bottom of this post. This year presents a bit of a challenge, as most of the books I read were technical in nature, but I think there were still enough idle hours to get us to our requisite "Seven Heavens". Moon: The Heaven of Madness and Change belongs this year to Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, as he appears in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman . I kinda, sorta, got this series in grad-school -it was perhaps too much for me at the time. All things have their season, however, and right now seems to be my time for The Sandman . Mercury: The Heaven of Language goes to the most well-written grammar for any language I've studied: Wheelock's Latin . All one has to do is pick up Hanson and Quinn's Greek to see the massive differ...

 Pictured: Kerrigor and Sabriel in Pitt pen and Brush Marker on sketch paper. It's been several years since I last did a blog-through of a book. Returning to live-blogging and Garth Nix's Old Kingdom have both been fun. So what are my final thoughts now that it's over? Nix is a much more accomplished writer than contemporary Terry Brooks. While I have fond memories of reading the Shannara series in the early 90s, I wish I had been reading Nix's stuff instead. On the other hand, even though Sabriel  is a Y.A. novel, its darkness might have disturbed me and vitiated my ability to appreciate the world the book creates. Turning to the Sabriel  and Clariel  as an adult, I find myself able to appreciate the tightness of Nix's writing as well as the genuine novelty and cohesiveness of his imagined world. I also feel much more able to appreciate Nix's Realism. There are rules to the Old Kingdom, and Nix plays by them. Many writers of Fantasy seem to confuse Real...

Today's post continues my blog-through of Garth Nix's dark fantasy, Sabriel , picking up where we left off with chapter 26. We're getting down to the end and there are spoilers galore. So, if you don't want to know how a 23 year old novel (so what if it spends every weekend binge-watching Parks and Rec , it can stop any time it wants to!) ends, don't keep reading. So here we go. The end run of Sabriel  is all about locating Kerrigor's bronze coffin (pictured at left: marker on boarding pass stub) and putting an end to his preserved remains ala Dracula  or The Mummy .  As I said before, we're now out of Brooks and Le Guin territory and into Room With a View  and All Quiet on the Western Front . Signs and portents gather as Col. Horyse, like Yates' Irish Airman, foresees his own death. We also learn that there was an incident 20 years earlier with the dead crossing The Wall in large numbers and that the towns of northern Ancelstierre have been drilli...

We're continuing our blog-through of Garth Nix's Sabriel  starting at Chapter 24. The image is of The Clayr, who I thought deserved stained glass (or Conte marker on the backing of a pack of Bic pens). We're getting closer to the end now, so if you don't want to what Nix penned 23 years ago (under no circumstances is it moving back in with Mom and Dad! -that would be weird...) really, really don't keep reading. Ok, you're still reading. Nix keeps the pressure up as Sabriel goes into shock (nice touch of Realism, that) and the scavengers from earlier begin hounding her and Touchstone (Mogget went awol when Abhorsen slipped his collar). When Sabriel is wounded, Touchstone gains super-powers and runs all the way to the top of the hill before collapsing. If we've read the prequel, Clariel , we know that berserking runs in the royal family. At the top of the hill, as promised, Sabriel encounters the Clayr. The Clayr are apparently a family of mystics that ca...

It's the GRE for me this week, so things on the blog front have slowed down. Still, that's why we take notes when doing this sort of thing, so they're there when we have time. Tonight's post will be the eighth in a series devoted to Garth Nix's break-out novel, Sabriel . If you are averse to learning the secrets of a 23-year-old novel (so what if it secretly wears My Little Pony socks to work -they're cute!) then don't keep reading. Ok, you've been warned! Here we go. When last we left our heroes, Sabriel had entered Death (a.k.a. Dragon Age's "The Fade") to find her father's spirit while Touchstone (Alistair anyone?) and Mogget remained in the diamond of protection to face Kerrigor and his undead minions of undeath (as pictured to the left on a scrap of boarding pass). Chapter 22 features the best descriptions of the Nine Gates of Death that we have anywhere in the book. They are simple, hazy, and yet still wonderfully dante...

Today we resume our walk through Garth Nix's Sabriel . Prior posts in this series can be found by visiting the blog and scrolling down. If you wish to remain ignorant of the details of a 23 year old book (it's too poor for avocado toast but day-old pizza for breakfast is just fine!), do not keep reading. You have been warned! We're picking up with chapters 18 and 19. This, at long last, brings us to civilization -or what's left of it. Belisaere, capitol of the Old Kingdom, is a sort of fifteenth century Constantinople. The boom chain that guards the harbor is there, and people do live and trade in the port, but it is clear that they are squatters in the ruins of a grander civilization. Instead of the Turks at the doors, Belisaere has the Dead. For all that, it is still beautifully described and described as beautiful; the first place to be described so in the book. The little inn where Sabriel, Mogget, and Touchstone stay, The Three Lemons, is a picture of bou...

It's a dark and stormy day here and that feels like a good background for discussing dark fantasy. So here we are at installment 6 of my read-through of Garth Nix's Sabriel . Earlier posts can be found by visiting the blog and scrolling down. Prior posts on Clariel  can be found by following the Nix label on the blog and scrolling down. I will give you the ritual warning that I will be discussing details of the novel. If you want to avoid knowledge of a 23 year old book (please stop trying to set it up with that awkward cousin of yours, he's not misunderstood, just creepy) then do not keep reading. Ok, that said, today's drawing is on a bit of boarding pass I found (yep, I'm down to portions of boarding pass now) and features Touchstone imprisoned as the figurehead of a ship (the king is the figurehead of the ship of state? Nice one, Garth). We'll begin our analysis of the book at Chapter 13 where... Glory, Hallelujah, it's raining men! You know it! ...

Today's post is the fifth in a series examining Gath Nix's fantasy classic, Sabriel . If you are spoiler sensitive about a 23 year old novel (yeah, I know, you're going through that mental rolodex looking for religious friends it might have something in common with...) then don't keep reading. I warned you! Ok, so today's drawing feature Mogget assuming his Final Form. It reminds me a bit of Dead Hand in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time . This is the last boarding pass I have to beautify with my marker collection, though the pictures should continue with each post. Chapter 11 opens with another seemingly unreliable aid for Sabriel: The Paperwing. Evidently, Abhorsens fly about in magical paper airplanes! The paperwing is another of Nix's wonderfully novel fantasy elements. It is believable in execution and unlike anything in Tolkien, Lewis, Le Guin, Dunsany, MacDonald, or Howard. It is delightful, ambiguously trustworthy, and feels real . Interest...

Today's post contains part 4 of my read-through of Garth Nix's Sabriel , the first book in his Abhorsen Series. Due to the popularity of this book, I need to speed read from here forward in order to get it back to the library on time. That will make future posts more condensed, but perhaps that will make them more interesting. Either way, here we go! Do not continue reading if you have qualms about spoilers on a 23 year old book (that wants you to please stop asking it to hold babies at church; they're children, not an infectious disease). Chapter 8 begins with what should be a pleasant scene: in a nice soft bed with a fluffy white cat sitting at the foot. The first discomfiting fact is that Sabriel is naked (violation/vulnerability) and that the cat is really an imprisoned being of unimaginable power and malignancy. Things get creepier when the cat speaks and asks Sabriel to remove its collar. Mogget, for that is who the cat is, is unscrupulous as well as cle...

This is the third post covering my reading of Garth Nix's 1995 Dark YA Fantasy Sabriel . Prior posts in the series can be found here and here . Posts from 2014 on Nix's prequel, Clariel , can be found by using the Nix tag at the bottom of this post or on the side bar. As with the prior two posts, this one features my depiction of Sabriel encountering the Shining Spirit along the river of death. It is done with pitt pens and felt markers on the back of an airline boarding pass. In the meantime, let's get on to the review. As always, don't keep reading if you don't want spoilers on a 23 year old novel (That likes beer, hard liquor, and binge-watching Parks and Rec?). From my notes: Chapter 6 opens with a sudden shift in perspective, an odd choice that still plagues Nix in Clariel . We find ourselves in the head of one of the lesser dead, Thralk. The jump in perspective is meant to enhance the tension as we watch Thralk creep up on Sabriel's broken war...

Today, we continue my blog-through Garth Nix's 1995 dark fantasy sensation: Sabriel . The first post in this series can be found here . As an added bonus, I'm attempting to doodle my way through Nix's world and hope to provide a different drawing with each post. Today's features Sabriel setting out from the wall into the borderlands between the technological world of Ancelstierre and the magical world of The Old Kingdom. As this is a liminal place, her gear is appropriately liminal with modern and medieval touches. I think Sabriel as pictured here owes more than a little to Trish from the Eldritch Horror  games, though the sword is definitely John Howe and the bells are church handbells (nine tailors make a man). Anyhow, if you wish to remain spoiler free on a 23 year old book (is it in grad school or a temp at Dunder Mifflin?), don't read on. From my journal notes: Chapter 2 opens with a set-piece that reinforces the leitmotif of boundary-crossing: The W...

This poor post has been a long time in coming (hopefully Liz and Joi will forgive me). My first live blog through one of Nix's Old Kingdom books was Clariel   in 2014. LIFE has intervened since then. Anyhow, I finally have space to pick the poor project up again starting at the start of The Abhorsen Trilogy: Sabriel . In each post, I will share my thought from the previous spate of reading. I will also endeavour to accompany each post with a drawing giving a little glimpse into my experience of Nix's world. The first two drawing are done with bic pen on boarding passes as I began reading Sabriel  on a trip to Tulsa. As a final word: if you haven't read Sabriel  and want to remain spoiler free, don't read on. Ok, you're still reading, so from here on out your blood be on your own head. From my journal: I've read Clariel  at Liz's suggestion, so I know a little of what goes on in Nix's world. Still, we don;t ever get to see a trained Abhorsen in ...

We're already past July 4th, and I haven't addressed the critical issue of Summer Reading. In part, that's because I'm applying to grad schools and six to eight hours of each week day is devoted to language study and catch-up reading. So, right now, most of my Summer Reading is Wheelock's and Hanson and Quinn. Other things have managed to slip in, however. If you've been following this blog, you may have noticed the Neil Gaiman binge. It started with Troll Bridge , moved on to The Neverwhere , gained steam with The Sandman  vols 1-6, The Dream Hunters  and Overture , and finished up with Fragile Things  and The Ocean at the End of the Lane . That's a lot of Gaiman! To break up the flow of goth drama and tragic sexuality, we've also been listening to Stephen Fry read the Sherlock Holmes novels and doing our own read-through of Frank Herbert's Dune . We're looking forward to watching the Sci-Fi channels mini-series after we're done with tha...

Neil Gaiman's worlds are not nice worlds. That's not merely true of his dark epic,  Sandman , but also of his children's tales. The Graveyard Book  opens with the brutal murder of the protagonist's family, including his infant sibling. Troll Bridge  is a clear metaphor for sexual addiction with its origin in childhood trauma. The Ocean at the End of the Lane features a father attempting to drown his seven year old son and a nanny threatening to accuse the same boy of indecently exposing himself to her if he won't keep silent about her plot. I have to confess that it's shocking. Then I remember all the stories I've encountered as a teacher, and I of all the children I've encountered for whom these things are a part of their lives. Gaiman specializes in reaching out to those dark places. His fictional narratives create safe spaces for trauma to be processed and his narrators provide a reassuring "me too". I've found more than a few famili...

Note: this is a reworking of an old blog post and appeared originally in the journal "Old Roads". Three friends have mentioned it in the past few weeks, so I thought that I would re-post it here. Favorite books are like old friends: they age with us, bringing new treasures as the years go by. One of my old companions has been Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. I was first introduced to this strange and wonderful novel in tenth grade as part of the literature curriculum.   Since then, I’ve made a habit of picking up Bronte’s master-work every few years.   It never disappoints.   Rather, as I grow and mature, there’s always some new facet of Jane Eyre that sparkles with a light I hadn’t seen before.   I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom Bronte’s tale of the orphan girl making her own way in the world is a perennial favorite.   For those of you who also appreciate the richness of one of England’s foremost Gothic and Romantic tales, I’d like to share two t...

Another Labor Day Weekend is upon us and that means that another Summer Vacation has come to a close upon this middle earth. With that, it's time for 2017's annual Seven Heavens of Summer Reading Awards. As in summers past, I award the the most interesting books of the year's summer reading to the various medieval planets that most correspond to their virtues. Sun: The Sun is the heaven of scholars. A hundred years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien was penning the first words of what would become Middle Earth. It has taken two lifetimes to bring out all that was in that tweedy little don's head. Christopher Tolkien, at 93, has brought out what he considers the capstone of his father's work Beren and Luthien . Though there is no new material here, the arrangement allows the reader to see how the central tale of Tolkien's mythology evolved over the course of its creator's long life. The Solaric Award, then, goes to both Tolkiens for two life's-works well done. Mercu...